Human error cited in sinking of tugboat: Report says captain failed to maneuver ship into new position after high tide

Thursday

Feb 28, 2013 at 3:15 AMFeb 28, 2013 at 10:04 AM

By JIM HADDADIN

PORTSMOUTH — The U.S. Coast Guard is considering a potential enforcement action against the tugboat operator whose vessel sank at the Memorial Bridge construction site last year, spilling diesel fuel into the Piscataqua River.

A Coast Guard investigation report released to Foster's Daily Democrat this week details the circumstances that led to the sinking of the Benjamin Bailey, the tugboat that capsized in the waters off Portsmouth.

Two crew members leaped to safety moments before the ship sank on Oct. 24.

The vessel was eventually floated to the surface of the river and returned to Eliot, Maine, for a salvage attempt, after crews worked for several days to recover it.

A pollution investigator's statement indicates that during the course of the response and salvage operation, Coast Guard personnel observed an estimated 225 gallons of red dyed marine diesel fuel discharging from the ship into the Piscataqua River, creating a visible sheen on the water. Coast Guard investigators have flagged the fuel discharge as a potential violation of federal laws.

They have referred the incident for a potential “enforcement action” against Riverside Marine Construction, Inc., the tugboat operator, which could come in the form of an administrative or civil penalty. Records associated with the enforcement action are not expected to be released to the public for another three to six months, according to a Coast Guard spokesman.

An analysis by the Coast Guard determined that human error played a role in the ship's sinking. Specifically, the tugboat captain failed to maneuver the ship into a new position after high tide in the morning. As noon approached, the current shifted, and the ship started getting rocked sideways.

The captain who was on duty for the day was also away when it sank, according to the Coast Guard report. The captain departed to get lunch about 30 minutes before the event.

Before he left, a more senior employee of the tugboat company — another captain — boarded the ship to help with a repair job. He attempted to save the ship, but may have actually contributed to the boat capsizing by maneuvering the ship back and forth while it was moored to a barge, according to the investigation report.

Riverside and Pickering Marine Contractors in Eliot, Maine, was hired by the company in charge of the Memorial Bridge project, Archer Western Contractors, to support operations at the construction site.

The Benjamin Bailey was usually piloted by Riverside and Pickering's port captain, who is a full-time employee of the company. His name is redacted from the documents provided by the Coast Guard. He has held the position since February or March 2012.

However, the port captain was off-duty on the day the tugboat sank. Instead, a so-called “relief captain” was called in to take charge of the vessel.

The relief captain arrived at Riverside and Pickering's facility to pick up the ship at about 6 a.m. He left with a deckhand, and they arrived at the construction site shortly before 7 o'clock. They moored the vessel on the port side, attaching a line to one of the barges. The bow of the ship was also touching a second barge in front of it.

The Benjamin Bailey didn't have any orders from the worksite contractor, so the two crew members turned off the engines and began “routine preventative maintenance,” the Coast Guard report states.

One project for the day was replacing the shaft packing on both the port and starboard propellers. However, the deckhand didn't know how to complete the task alone, and the port captain who is normally in charge of the ship agreed to come in on his day off to assist the deckhand with the project.

The port captain arrived at about 11 a.m. and called the relief captain on the ship to ask him to bring a hard hat and life jacket out to the parking lot so he could come aboard. They met in the parking lot, and the relief captain left to get lunch.

Tide tables for the day indicate that high tide was expected at about 7:57 a.m. The Piscataqua River tide began to ebb at about 9 a.m., and from about 11 a.m. to about 11:45 a.m., the ship began to list toward its starboard side, being pushed by the current.

The port captain boarded the Benjamin Bailey at about 11:16 a.m. and questioned why the ship was moored in the same configuration it was when it first arrived, according to the Coast Guard Report.

Within the next 15 minutes, the port captain discovered that he had no way to contact the relief captain because the relief captain had left behind his cell phone inside the wheel house of the ship.

The vessel was tipping at a full 5 degrees at this point, and the port captain decided the vessel needed to be moved, the report states. He ordered the deckhand to start the power generator and ran a line from the capstan — a motor-driven spindle — to a mooring hook.

For the next seven minutes, the captain turned the rope, but with each turn, the rubber fenders on the side of the ship gripped tighter against the adjacent barge, keeping the tugboat stuck in place.

Now ankle-deep in water, the captain slackened the line and ran to the pilot house. He attempted to maneuver the ship away, first moving in reverse, then forward, then reversing again. But the movement spilled even more water onto the deck of the ship and into the engine room, pushing the ship underwater, according to the Coast Guard investigation.

Both the captain and the deckhand exited the vessel “seconds before the vessel completely submerged,” the report states.

One factor that might have also contributed to the ship's sinking is the movement of fuel in the engines. The ship has a sluice valve that is manually operated, allowing for even consumption of fuel between the left and right fuel tanks on the front and back of the boat.

The port captain, the on-duty captain and the deckhand were all taken to Occupational Health Services in Portsmouth to undergo alcohol and drug tests. The results of the alcohol tests are redacted in the version of the report provided to Foster's. The drug test results don't appear within the 92-page document. However, there is no indication in the document that alcohol or drug use played a factor.

A lack of attention to the mooring position of the boat is the first factor cited in the analysis of the ship's sinking conducted by the Coast Guard.

“The tide began to ebb long before Captain (redacted) and Captain (redacted) met in the parking lot at approximately 1115,” the report states. “Captain (redacted) decision to leave the vessel in the curren(t) position was his comfort level having been a mariner for nearly 30 years.”

Also, an attempt to use a gate line and capstan to move the bow away from the barges was inadequate in light of the strong current, according to the report.

“The use of a 'gate line' and starboard quarter capstan to move the bow away from the two barges was a good attempt,” the report states, “however, the force of the ebbing tide and current, against the starboard beam of the BENJAMIN BAILEY, was too much.”

The Coast Guard also cites “preconditions” that contributed to the event, including policies from the tugboat company it deemed as “unclear.”

For example, the port captain was reticent to second-guess the relief captain who was piloting the Benjamin Bailey for the day because the relief captain had more years of experience as a merchant marine, according to the Coast Guard report.

Additionally, procedures outlined in the tugboat company's handbook did not discuss environmental factors to consider, such as the tide in the Piscataqua River, and left all decisions up to the captain's discretion, according to the Coast Guard report.

The handbook was deemed “inadequate” because it failed to provide information about mooring arrangements or policies about working at the Memorial Bridge site. A Coast Guard investigator also expressed some concern about the practice of captains departing from their ships while they're engaged at the bridge.

“The work on the memorial bridge project often requires the captains of the contracted tug boats to attend meetings, many of which require the captains to depart their vessels,” the report states. “While at the worksite, it also appears to be common practice for the captains to leave for lunch. Although I do not see this (as) a problem, I do believe that not having a Captain onboard the vessel places the vessel at a higher risk of danger,” the report states.

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